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Journal scan To improve the care of patients who show signs of deterioration, hospitals need systems that trigger swift action from their response teams. This paper describes the effectiveness of a Patient at Risk Team (PART) that comprised mainly of experienced ward nurses. The study involved a comparison of the numbers of cardiac arrest and medical emergency team (MET) calls made at a single site before and after a PART was established. The study also involved a comparison of the number of people admitted to hospital. Results show that the introduction of a PART led to reductions in the number of ward cardiac arrests and in length of stay in hospital, as well as a decline in direct admissions to an intensive care unit. However, there was no change in the number of MET calls per 1,000 admissions. The study concludes that a dedicated response team comprising experienced ward nurses may be effective in providing care to deteriorating patients. Pirret AM, Takerei SF, Kazula LM (2015) The effectiveness of a patient at risk team comprised of predominantly ward experienced nurses: a before and after study. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing. doi.org.10.1016/j.iccn.2014.10.005
Burnout among nurses
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There is much research into the relationship between workload pressures and nurses’ stress levels, and into how working long hours affects health. This study, however, concerns the association between core self-evaluation,
Science Photo Library
Patient deterioration
Gender-specific assessments may replace standard troponin tests in the diagnosis of heart attack in women
an assessment of personality traits that predispose to job satisfaction, for example, and burnout among nurses in China. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Shenyang between May and July 2013. A total of 1,559 nurses were asked to complete a questionnaire that consisted of the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey, the Core Self-Evaluation Scale (CSE) and the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire. The study explores the relationship between nurses’ different coping styles, self-evaluation scores and levels of burnout. It concludes that coping style has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between CSE and burnout. Nurses with high self-evaluation scores reported less emotional exhaustion and cynicism, and more professional efficacy. Li X, Guan L, Chang H et al (2014) Core self-evaluation and burnout among nurses: the mediating role of coping styles. PLoS One. 9, 1, e87152.
Heart attack in women A study by researchers at the University of Edinburgh shows how, by carrying out a gender-specific test, emergency care practitioners can diagnose twice as many heart attacks in women than they would by undertaking a standard troponin test. EMERGENCY NURSE
Women often have lower levels of troponin than men and so women’s heart attacks may go undetected in tests with standard, non-gender-specific thresholds. Abbott’s ARCHITECT STAT high-sensitivity troponin-I test can detect low levels of the protein cardiac troponin. Increased levels of this protein can indicate heart injury. Funded by a special project grant from the British Heart Foundation, the researchers’ study was based on data from 1,126 patients. The researchers found that, if practitioners had carried out the Abbott test, they could have diagnosed myocardial infarction in 22% of women, compared with 11% of women diagnosed by undertaking the standard test. In October last year, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended that practitioners carry out the Abbott test to rule out heart attacks quickly in people presenting to NHS emergency departments in England and Wales. Shah A, Mills N, Griffiths M et al (2014) High-sensitivity cardiac troponin and the underdiagnosis of myocardial infarction in women: a prospective cohort study. British Medical Journal. doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g7873. Journal scan is compiled by Jennifer Sprinks February 2015 | Volume 22 | Number 9 17
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Journal scan To improve the care of patients who show signs of deterioration, hospitals need systems that trigger swift action from their response teams. This paper describes the effectiveness of a Patient at Risk Team (PART) that comprised mainly of experienced ward nurses. The study involved a comparison of the numbers of cardiac arrest and medical emergency team (MET) calls made at a single site before and after a PART was established. The study also involved a comparison of the number of people admitted to hospital. Results show that the introduction of a PART led to reductions in the number of ward cardiac arrests and in length of stay in hospital, as well as a decline in direct admissions to an intensive care unit. However, there was no change in the number of MET calls per 1,000 admissions. The study concludes that a dedicated response team comprising experienced ward nurses may be effective in providing care to deteriorating patients. Pirret AM, Takerei SF, Kazula LM (2015) The effectiveness of a patient at risk team comprised of predominantly ward experienced nurses: a before and after study. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing. doi.org.10.1016/j.iccn.2014.10.005
Burnout among nurses
iStock
There is much research into the relationship between workload pressures and nurses’ stress levels, and into how working long hours affects health. This study, however, concerns the association between core self-evaluation,
Science Photo Library
Patient deterioration
Gender-specific assessments may replace standard troponin tests in the diagnosis of heart attack in women
an assessment of personality traits that predispose to job satisfaction, for example, and burnout among nurses in China. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Shenyang between May and July 2013. A total of 1,559 nurses were asked to complete a questionnaire that consisted of the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey, the Core Self-Evaluation Scale (CSE) and the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire. The study explores the relationship between nurses’ different coping styles, self-evaluation scores and levels of burnout. It concludes that coping style has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between CSE and burnout. Nurses with high self-evaluation scores reported less emotional exhaustion and cynicism, and more professional efficacy. Li X, Guan L, Chang H et al (2014) Core self-evaluation and burnout among nurses: the mediating role of coping styles. PLoS One. 9, 1, e87152.
Heart attack in women A study by researchers at the University of Edinburgh shows how, by carrying out a gender-specific test, emergency care practitioners can diagnose twice as many heart attacks in women than they would by undertaking a standard troponin test. EMERGENCY NURSE
Women often have lower levels of troponin than men and so women’s heart attacks may go undetected in tests with standard, non-gender-specific thresholds. Abbott’s ARCHITECT STAT high-sensitivity troponin-I test can detect low levels of the protein cardiac troponin. Increased levels of this protein can indicate heart injury. Funded by a special project grant from the British Heart Foundation, the researchers’ study was based on data from 1,126 patients. The researchers found that, if practitioners had carried out the Abbott test, they could have diagnosed myocardial infarction in 22% of women, compared with 11% of women diagnosed by undertaking the standard test. In October last year, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended that practitioners carry out the Abbott test to rule out heart attacks quickly in people presenting to NHS emergency departments in England and Wales. Shah A, Mills N, Griffiths M et al (2014) High-sensitivity cardiac troponin and the underdiagnosis of myocardial infarction in women: a prospective cohort study. British Medical Journal. doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g7873. Journal scan is compiled by Jennifer Sprinks February 2015 | Volume 22 | Number 9 17
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Jul 06, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
